


Through Her Eyes

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 17:02:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17512493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Jay accompanies his girlfriend to the city to see what all the fuss is about. Willow belongs to willownorthbook and Jay belongs to SpaceUnicornDot.





	Through Her Eyes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [willownorthbook](https://archiveofourown.org/users/willownorthbook/gifts).



There wasn't much that Jay and Willow fought about. All of their friends said that they were couple goals and, honestly, they were probably right. Sure, maybe Jay worried a little too much about Willow, and maybe sometimes Willow was a little too reckless or the spectre of Kai seemed closer than usual (especially on cold nights when the darkness seemed to be closing in and Willow was too afraid to pick up her phone and call Jay because maybe he did deserve someone better, someone prettier, but Jay always knew, somehow, he always knew when his girlfriend was feeling particularly lonesome and he was always on his way there by the time that Willow found the courage to break past those boundaries and find him in her contacts to call him), but nothing could truly shake them. Well, some things had, but they were relatively minor.

Except for this one thing...

"Any plans for the weekend?" Jay murmured into Willow's shoulder as he lay still half on top of her in the bed that they shared in their home in Mistfall.

"Yes, actually," said Willow. Jay looked at her, his eyes seeming almost to glow in the morning light coming in through the bedroom window. It made the bare skin of his shoulder glow, too. As usual, his eyes took on a reverent look when he looked at her, as though he were looking at Aideen herself. "I'm going to spend some time with dad in Jorvik City, it's been a while."

"Oh," said Jay, his face falling as he looked away from her. His shoulders slumped, and Willow swore that he was pouting.

"Jay," Willow cooed, gently nudging his shoulder. "You're acting like I'm abandoning you."

"Well, you are," said Jay, watching as Willow untangled herself from the sheets and Jay's embrace to begin dressing for the day. She could feel his eyes on her, and it was still the most reverent look. Most people looked at their partner differently when they were in a state of undress. Not Jay. Though, that might have something to do with him currently acting like Gracie when she didn't get her bowl of (lactose free) milk.

"You could always come with me, you know," said Willow, pulling a black sweater on and pairing it with her ripped blue jeans.

"Ugh, to that place of smog and monsters and pollution? No thanks," said Jay, wrinkling his nose. Willow laughed, turning to face Jay.

"You make it sound so awful," said Willow. "At least give it a chance. You might even end up liking it."

"I'll think about it," said Jay. And, while Willow headed into the kitchen to begin making breakfast and feed Gracie, Brownie, Rune, and Christmas, Jay did think about it, lying back in bed. Jorvik, the earth, it was so beautiful, and he just couldn't understand why anyone would willingly choose to live anywhere but in the forest with their love. Why anyone would willingly pollute the earth, ride around in those monsters, build filthy cities in the middle of nature. Aideen's Plaza was okay, but it still suffered from being away from nature. A fountain of Aideen in the middle of a forested glade would look much nicer than it currently did, as nice-looking as the plaza was.

But... Willow came from the city. Loved the city. Talked about it often, and her father and sister lived there. And sure, Willow loved the country, but Jay had noticed that Willow always seemed happier when she came home from visiting her dad, smelling of cars but also baked goods and old books and coffee (not that Jay drank it, nor did Willow, but it was still a pleasant smell). And Jay did want to know how his girlfriend lived, what she enjoyed, what her life had been like before him. And, if he was being completely honest with himself, he often felt inspired by the scenery that Willow spoke of whenever she came home. He could only wonder what it would be like up close and personal, how inspired he might be by it. And sure, there might be monsters, but...

Pandoria had its fair share of monsters, too. But he still loved it. Maybe the city would be similar.

And so, when Willow came back into their bedroom to asked Jay if he was going to join her outside for breakfast (which the answer was always a 'yes' but she still asked), Jay stood from the bed (holding the sheet up to cover his modesty) and announced "Yes, I will come to the city with you."

Willow blinked, looked at him, and then laughed at the sight of him. She grinned, though, and looked him in the eyes.

"I hope you're going to put some pants on, at least, before we go," said Willow. Jay blushed, immediately dropping the sheet and striding over to the dresser where he pulled out some clothes to wear. "I'll wait for you outside, we can have breakfast and then get going if you want."

"Yes, that sounds wonderful," said Jay, pulling on a pair of jeans before he started searching for a decent t-shirt to wear beneath his flannel.

Breakfast this morning felt different. The blend of tea was the same (Brooks made their tea, just as he made tea for everyone now), even the breakfast was the same, as was the company (Brownie sniffed for scraps along with Biscuit, his accomplice). The sun slanting through the trees, dust motes floating between them, was also the same, as was the sound of morning birdsong. Maybe it just felt different because a part of Jay felt like he was seeing the forest one last time before bidding farewell to it and betraying it by going into the big, smelly city. The only good thing about it, aside from the plaza with the golden statue, was the ice cream at Leonardo's (after that first ice cream headache, anyway). But apparently, Willow saw something beautiful in it. And for her? Jay could put aside his own reservations about the city and see what it was all about.

"Ready to go?" Willow asked as she put the plates and cups in the kitchen sink later.

"Yes," said Jay, nodding. He felt oddly nervous. But he wasn't going to meet Oskar for the first time this time, or little Quinn (who he adored). He was just... going to put on a brave face and try to see what his girlfriend saw in that hateful place. At least she seemed to prefer horses.

They rode Rebel and Snowdrop to the bus stop just outside of Dundull, leaving them to entertain themselves while their riders visited the city. They could probably make their way back home, too, if they wanted to. And this time, though Jay felt a pang when he saw the country fade away behind them, he watched the scenery change and tried to find something poetic about it. But when he looked at Willow, her eyes alight and her smile growing as they got closer, he found his muse and itched to draw. One time, he'd made a clumsy, messy sketch of Willow sleeping on the bus, her head resting against the window and pillowed on her balled-up sweater. But the bus had been moving too much for Jay to make it look decent. No wonder most humans took photos, but there was just something so much more intimate about drawing, he'd found.

Jay had expected cities to all look the same, despite the difference in Aideen's Plaza. He'd honestly thought that that was just a one-off, a rare diamond in a sea of dirt. So he was surprised when Willow led Jay to a narrow road not far away from her home. Shops lined the streets, a myriad of different colours and sounds and smells in what was almost a dizzying, overwhelming array.

"Well, Jay," said Willow, turning to him with a smile touching her lips, "welcome to the best part of town."

Jay's eyes were huge as he took in everything, or tried to. He really wanted to draw or write about this, the way that all of the scents of the various food trucks and cafes mingled together. In one breath, he could smell spicy food truck produce, in another, he could smell cakes, and then coffee, and then other delicious baked goods, and greasy fried food. And yes, there were cars gleaming in the sunlight, but there were also lanterns strung across the street, high up enough so that everyone and everything passed under them. Jay could only imagine how beautiful this was at night. And everywhere, there were just so many people. More than Jay had ever seen before. But they were... happy.

"It's beautiful," said Jay after the silence had grown long enough that Willow began to look a little antsy. Willow's shoulders sagged with relief as a grin spread across her face.

"Oh, good, I'm glad you like it," said Willow. "Not that I need your approval or anything, just, it's nice to share likes when you're a couple, you know?"

"Yes," said Jay, nodding. "Absolutely." He wasn't sure what to look at or where to go first, but thankfully, Willow made the decision for him, taking his hand in her own and tugging him with her down the sidewalk. Jay tried to peer into every shop that they passed, but Willow was on a mission, though she did laugh as she tugged him along.

"Come on, we'll stop here first," said Willow, and led Jay into a little shop that sold stationery supplies. Jay couldn't help but smile and close his eyes as he inhaled the delightful scent of paper and ink. It reminded him of his early days with the druids, when he'd spend all day studying in the library, trying to learn as much about Jorvik and the Keepers as he could.

"Oh, I was looking for a new sketchpad," said Jay as Willow stopped in front of a display of them. Most of them had plain black covers, but a few also had beautiful designs or pictures on them. Jay selected one that bore an image of Aideen's harp, embossed in gold on the cover. He ran his fingers over it reverently, and swore that he could hear the sound of that beautiful melody.

"Come on, one more stop and then we can go to a cafe that I really like," said Willow.

"But you just ate," said Jay.

"Hey, the muffins there are to die for. Metaphorically," said Willow before Jay could panic.

"I'll take your word for it," said Jay. "But I also believe you."

"I'll buy you one too," said Willow. "But first, I need to buy myself something to do while you sketch me." Jay gaped at her.

"Am I that predictable?" Jay asked. Willow laughed, wrapping her arms around him.

"Kinda hard to miss the sound of pencil scratching on paper. But seriously, I love it when you draw me," said Willow. "I mean, I'm still not sure what you see in me, but it sure does make a girl feel special."

"I thought you'd be upset with me for it," said Jay, rubbing one arm with the other once Willow had pulled away from him and started to make her way towards the counter to buy Jay's sketchpad.

"It's not worth the lecture for questioning you about it," said Willow. "And it makes you happy, so I'm happy." 

As Jay followed Willow out of the shop, now clutching his sketchpad and the pack of pencils and sharpener (one with a case to catch the pencil shavings), he reflected that, if Willow could learn to put up with some minor discomfort in being sketched for his happiness, maybe he could put up with his minor discomfort in the city for her happiness. Besides, this part of the city was nice.

After visiting a bookshop (the smell, again, reminded Jay of his old life as a near-hermit before meeting the Keepers of Light and Izzy and Willow) where Willow bought an old book that was marked with at least one coffee ring stain and smelled beautifully nostalgic, Willow finally took Jay to a small hole in the wall cafe.

Immediately, the scent of coffee swamped them, accompanied by the low murmur of conversations, the hissing of the coffee machine, the voices of the baristas calling out to customers, and the warm and lovely scents of baked goods. Willow made a beeline for the cake cabinet while Jay hung behind a little, still unused to this much sensory overload.

After ordering, Jay and Willow found a small table by the window, Willow sitting in a sunbeam and immediately getting comfortable with her tea and banana muffin. She waited for the tea to cool, though, and opened her book while she munched on her muffin. Jay had his own muffin, this one chocolate chip, and tea sat in front of him. And for a while, the two sat in silence, enjoying their muffins (which were delicious) and the pleasant atmosphere.

But it wasn't long before Jay pulled out his new sketchpad. And this time, he noticed when Willow stilled a little, when her green eyes flicked to him and a grin stretched across her face for a moment. Jay chuckled and smiled as he began to sketch the portrait of his girlfriend sitting in front of the window, enjoying her muffin and book. And the sound of a pencil scribbling away on paper, shading in shadows and colour and drawing every line of his beautiful girlfriend, soon joined the background buzz of the cafe ambience.

If cities had places like these, well... maybe they weren't so bad, after all. And already, Jay was finding words to describe the sheer riot of colour and taste and smell of this wonderful little part of the city. Finding words to describe how lovely it was to be here with his girlfriend. Finding happiness swelling in him at just how at peace Willow looked here. Like she was home.


End file.
